The Raven and The Writing Desk
by Savibreeze
Summary: The Story of how Alice proves she belongs in Wonderland, or rather how she defies a few people a Time or two, bends a couple rules, and slips through a loophole to return to the only person who can embrace all of her Muchness. Alice/Hatter
1. A Very Finishing Business

The Raven and the Writing Desk

_Entry One: (recordings as requested by your Majesty, in all your White-ness) _

_Off on this mundane adventure. Can it be an adventure if it is to be called mundane? No… one supposes not. Mundane task. No. Mundane misdirection? Aye, a mundane misdirection to misguide very guided thoughts. What would a thought guide look like? Swirly, to counter all the pointedness one would imagine. Imagination, now there's something almost as valuable as muchness. And she had – task. The task on hand Tarrant. Right. Er, Left. Turned left at the Swamp of Dandyish, should arrive at LandEnd by one more sundown. _

_Sun up, sun down. Rinse, repeat. Four years of this blathering lather. I find myself still pondering words that begin with 'm'. Mundane, meandering, missing, missed?..._

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"Absolutely not," a strong female voice shot across the air, anger rather than volume giving it power.

The man the rebuke was intended for let out an exasperated sight, leaning a little more across the desk that separated them, "Miss Kingsley your continued refusal holds no business sense. What I'm proposing should be every trading company's dream. It is both financially desirable and, moreover, it helps the national cause. I can in no way," his voice grew strained, "fathom why you find this all so unacceptable."

Alice rose from her desk, leaning forward to match the man's posture, "Lord Stelan, while I am not surprised you cannot fathom something, I have already explained to you multiple times why your contrived logic will not make me forget what you are asking." Her sky-blue eyes threatening a storm. "No promise of gold nor some sort of abstract notion of helping my country," she said with a mocking tinge, "can hide the fact that you are asking me to help enslave and retard an entire people!" She shoved a stack of papers towards him, the top page's signature line conspicuously blank. "I will not taint my father's name, and so I repeat. I Refuse."

Lord Stelan ignored the papers, "Insolent…You would rather see it tarnished in financial ruin?"

"You blindly ignore the slower, more difficult path for ruin. Again, expected."

"I will overlook your insults," Stelan spit out from behind clenched teeth, "and remind you that my offer will not be so polite the next time around."

"I can do without your empty refrain, and your threats. Without my signature you can ship nothing," she paused for breath, "and I will not sign. KA Shipping will carry no opium. Not now, not ever!" She shoved the contract off her desk for emphasis.

Stelan moved, not to catch the papers, but to slam his hand forcefully on the desk. "This is mad – you are mad. China will crave our trade, your routes will help us make them!"

Alice met his glare, her steel gaze carefully punctuating each word, "Not. On. My. Ships." She stared him down a few moments longer then sat back in her chair dismissively. "I presume you know your way out. Kindly show yourself to the door. Or not so kindly if you prefer."

Stelan looked over her, cold and calculating, then turned and left without another word.

As soon as the heavy office door groaned shut behind him Alice let out an annoyed sigh. This was the fourth time in half as many weeks Lord Stelan had tried to purchase room on the China-bound ships. Alice snorted, Lord Stelan. Hah. Lord of all that was persistent, bloated, and annoying. His ego was almost as large as the Red Queen's. Almost. And of course his head wasn't so large. Must be the hat, she mused, extraordinary thing to hide such a ridiculously self-obsessed head. Hats were wondrous though, she had that on greatest authority.

"Tea for calm, Miss Alice?"

The soft Chinese accent saved her from what might have been a somewhat, to very, distracting and melancholy thought process. If one could measure such things.

"Chong-Li, I told you not to do this. You are a business consultant, not a butler," Alice said smiling as she accepted the tea.

"Not bad, tea good for soul." Chong-Li gestured toward the door, "bad business that man," he frowned, "bad outside business too. Careful, yes?"

Alice sipped her tea, nodding. She knew not to mistake Chong-Li's broken English for lack of intelligence. Though the middle-aged Chinese man would never fully grasp a second language his mind and advice had never given her any reason to doubt his abilities. He had proven himself invaluable time and time again during her stay in China, so much so that she had invited him back to London so his advice on new goods and trading routes would be close at hand.

"Yes, I'll admit he irks me, but short of doing away with me in some sort medieval fashion and re-writing the contracts there is nothing he can do. Ascot made sure of that when he handed most of the business over to me." Alice smirked a little to herself, "the fool Stelan thought it would be easier to persuade – no, to bully – the young girl Ascot left in charge. I'm sure he was surprised."

A chuckle escaped the older man's lips, "Ascot, good man. Smart man. See tonight, yes?"

"Yes, we should probably be on our way. I suppose I should be present for my own birthday dinner." Hah. Present. Alice scooped up anything not secured in place on the desk and unceremoniously dumped them into an open drawer. Excellent at business she may be, organized she was not. Focus was always much easier to pinpoint in a bit of chaos. Chong-Li had already drawn the curtains and was waiting for her at the office door. She slipped her coat on over a plain but practical blue dress and rose to meet him, "shall we?"

Alice let Chong-Li lead, taking his arm as they walked the five blocks from Ascots office to her family's London flat. Her mother had hoped that with maturity Alice's thoughts would become more focused – they had not. Her mind was just as apt to wander as it had always been. The comfortable silence she and Chong-Li moved in easily allowed her to fall into her own head. Alice was not particularly happy with what she found there: that same, persistent ache that had been ever so slowly growing these four years. Perhaps, she told herself with no conviction, I am merely apprehensive about being around my family tonight. Her mother, naturally, had not approved of her sudden change in lifestyle after she had rejected Hamish. What mother would rather have their daughter exposed to the danger of high seas and faraway lands than safely married? Of course her mother's anger could not hold up for too long – she was her father's daughter and her mother had always known Alice would only do as Alice wanted to do. Besides, she could now at least boast she had a daughter who had been to the Orient and back. The Orient…Alice then shifted her denial to blaming the ache on a pang for the exotic land of China. This was just as weak as her first excuse though. China had been mystical, new, unknown, exciting, fruitful, and everything she knew it would be; yet, once she had marveled at the soaring pavilions, rickshaw filled streets, and strange foods Alice realized nothing was different. Yes the Chinese culture was unique, beautiful, and foreign but at its core were people with the same hopes and fears as any person breathing on this world was wont to have. And that, Alice knew, was what ailed her: the longing for a world where people were not so similar, where all that had dreams were not people at all.

It was her own sideways glance into a window that interrupted her thoughts. Alice paused at the window, hands slipping from Chong-Li's arms. The Chinese man walked a few steps further before turning back to look at her quizzically.

"Just a moment Chong-Li, something in this window caught my eye."

"Always distract Miss Alice, late be maybe."

She chuckled, "not a problem, I am always late." Her focus was on the writing desk placed front and center in a shop window. The desk was not overly intricate, mostly sleek, dark wood except for the legs and middle drawer. Its simplicity made it more attractive but what particularly caught Alice's eye were the ravens carved at each foot. The birds were not facing forward but instead posed as if looking back over their shoulder, wings folded, so that their tails curved into the desk's feet. The middle drawer was the most ornate, with two detailed ravens circling each other, amber eyes protruding as handles.

"What an intriguing little piece – shame the eyes are amber. They would really look better emerald," Alice muttered. With a quick shake of her head she turned away from the store front and let a slightly sheepish smile adorn her face, "I guess we should move along." Chong-Li only gave her a look of practiced patience before nodding.

Her next thought was,_ I_ _suppose having a raven-writing desk is not technically the answer_.

Her resulting giggle was cut short,

and then there was blood.

It took her a few moments to realize the blood was hers, that there was knife was protruding from her chest. Alice immediately retreated into distraction: What an odd picture this makes, how harshly the steel contrasts with the blood, and the blood with the blue of her dress. White would probably go better, accommodate the gathering pool of red in a much more complimentary frame. Then again, blue was infinitely better in many ways. Of course she could be biased, blue was her color, so she had been told. As she mused on whether or not a person could properly be said to 'have their own color,' something distinctly like pain, screaming, withering pain tried to escape from the back of her mind and draw her into reality. But she had always been just ever so good at ignoring reality.

It took Chong-Li's frantic, jarring curses in Chinese to startle her back. Another part of her brain, one that wasn't screaming or contemplating merits of color, noted that he was not alone, but grappling with a male figure.

Then the blissful forced silence of shock set in.

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_**Hello! This my first fanfiction (kindly forgetting the tweenage love stories from Card Captor Sakura, Yugioh, and Spirited Away that filled my middle school years) but I make no excuses so read,, flame, what-have-you. Hopefully though I can bring back some of that insanity-thinged fun from the movie, which was what inspired me to write in the first place.**_

_**Cheers,**_

_**- Savi**_


	2. Vital Vial

_Entry Two: As requested by your blah blah blah _

_Started along Landend, or the end of the land if you will. Hard to say that I started at the end though, probably more like somewhere in the middle, or even slightly nearish to the beginning. No bloodybighead, who, one would think, could at least muster the courtesy to be where she was BANISHED TO SO THAT ALL THAT SHE SET A HANDERSLACK EN RUFLIN SHEWD –_ this wvordvwine is not suited for outlandish, please hold until sender switches back to plain speech, thank you for your patience –M M M M M!!! m. _Words that start with 'M' are no longer worth pondering. Moving on to 'N' then? No, by the very act of Moving to it it's still restrained. Backwards then, to 'L'. Land, longitude, looking, leering, leaving…_

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_

It was a struggle to crawl up to consciousness. Darkness and noiseless static were so much more appealing and required no effort on her part. Once she made the struggle though, once she had a slim awareness, the shooting pain abruptly woke her. Margret's eyes met hers and she saw her sister start in surprise. "Alice!" Her mother's voice was the concrete rope she desperately grabbed for as pain broke her concentration and nothingness took her again.

"That she woke then is a good sign, yes, but even so the extent of her injuries…"

…if we remove the knife it could save her. Or it could puncture the lung…"

The doctor's monotone was not an alluring lifeline, Alice felt no need to stay awake if all she had to listen to were his worried musings.

"Oh Alice," her mother's voice choked on itself, fear preventing her from finishing. Her mother's fear, now that Alice thought she should make an effort to be conscious for – to alleviate if she could. Forcing her eyes open, which was far harder than it needed to be, Alice caught the tear-stained faces of her mother and sister. "I'm …fine," she rasped out, hardly convincing with a voice as weak as it was, "don't worry Mother."

"But…" Alice could hardly stand to listen to the worry and despair her mother placed in such a short protest. Well, her inner mind giggled, she could hardly stand at all. Let alone to listen to anything.

"Mother, really, all I need is a strong cup of tea." A blatant lie of course. She did not doubt the powers of Tea, but it was definitely not the only thing she needed. However, the suggestion did what Alice had hoped it would – get her mother and Margret out of the room. Rather they focus on a futile task than she her here like this. Margret briefly looked back as she closed the door behind her, "Our love to you, Alice," her eyes far too sad to have been fooled by Alice's request as their mother had been. Alice managed a weak nod, "and mine to you both."

The door close and the room spun, perhaps nodding had been a bad idea. "Well?" She tried to fix a no-nonsense stare onto the doctor, but he was moving awfully quick and fixing anything on him seemed difficult to do.

"Now Miss Kingsely, the best thing for you to do is rest."

"Yes Alice, please rest. Dr. Bettham is the best in the county and as for Stelan, I'll see him hang for this, I swear it!" Ascot's anger was rather loud for Alice's head, it made the lights dance so, but she appreciated his enthusiasm.

"Lord Ascot, Sir…perhaps now is not the best time to mention that."

Mention what? Oh right. "So Stelan is to blame for this mess then?" Alice tried for a laugh but got only labored coughs instead. She coughed over Ascot's reply and then the only thing she could hear were her coughs. The rattling, blood-coated coughs were just too annoying to listen to, so she allowed the pillows to claim her head once more.

When Alice came to she found her room empty but heard hushed voices on the other side of the door. There was a tea cup on the nightstand to her left, bless her mother. Alice's eyes wandered from the tea cup, past the nightstand, to the mirror on her wall. There her gaze faltered and she realized she did not want to see herself. For a moment fear washed over her, threatening to drown her, until she found a comforting familiarity in the fear. I have faced this before, she thought. What is Death but another Jabberwocky? She raised her eyes to the mirror, briefly wondering: but where is my sword?

What a pitiful image I make, Alice thought, all propped up on blood stained pillows and tangled in bandages. Her sunken, pale eyes looked back at her. No, no this is not how I will go. Courage Alice, Courage. Her eyes cleared a bit and she made an effort to lift her chin, trying for her trademark condescending look. Pull yourself together Alice! She attempted a cocky grin but it came out sickly, drooping at the corners. The Alice in the mirror, however, smiled broadly back, a strong, sly smile. Alice raised her eyebrows in surprise, but her mirror self just looked smug. Her reflection turned and reached behind her, reaching for something behind the pillow. When she was facing her once again Alice saw a small purple vial resting in her reflection's palm.

A million thoughts rushed through Alice's mind. Could she really go back? Should she have written a will? Would Ascot be able to manage the company? Was it alright to leave without telling her mother goodbye? Watching all these thoughts left Alice lightheaded but luckily pain is an excellent way to regain focus and so Alice soon made a decision. Best to go now – no restraint just action. Restraint is too much like convention and when have I ever followed that?

Mirror-Alice held the vial up, as if making a toast. "To the impossible then?" Alice asked, "Well then, bottoms up!" Her reflection grinned and downed the Jabberwocky blood.


	3. Not the Usual RabbitHole

_Entry Three: LOCKED LONGING LOST LAUGHTER LASTING _

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Alice was walking in darkness. At least she assumed she was walking because what else would she be doing? Sitting maybe – actually that might make more sense, wasn't it silly to walk in the dark? She could trip over something.

"Do you fear Death?"

Alice looked up at the blue light, then down at her feet, which were, as she had suspected, walking. "Do I what?"

"Do you fear death? It is not a hard question, silly girl."

"No…" her voice trailed off then paused, turned around and came back doubly sure. "I could have died at any moment. The Jabberwocky could have killed me. The seas could have taken me. Disease. Random accidents. If I lived fearing Death why I would hardly be living at all. I just…" silence waited expectantly for her answer. "I just regret breaking my promise."

"Well then come along, we should not dawdle here." The blue light swerved closer and she realized it was Absalom.

"WAIT! CHEATER! STOP!" An old man with no wrinkles stuck his finger accusingly in Alice's face.

"Pay Him no attention Alice," Absalom said as he bobbed along.

Alice eyed the finger quizzically, "how have I cheated?"

"You haven't dear," a man with antlers, drawled. "My partner here is just grumpy because so far he's zero to one and the second match isn't looking any better for him."

The young-old man glared fiercely, "I don't see why you're not protesting, she's cheating you too."

Alice suddenly found a candle in her face, "would you be so kind as to light this for me?"

"But I haven't a match," Alice replied, breath floating over the wick. With that the candle flame roared and the antlered man sat back and laughed, candle dangling from his lips. "See? Much too full of life for me. Besides she hasn't cheated me - far from it. Her presence means I can call in my first loss." He grinned, "Death 1-1, Time 2-0. Hurts doesn't it dear partner?"

Absalom had been leading her farther and farther from the two men so Alice had to strain her ears to hear the first man's response. She heard not Time's voice but instead the rushing of wind. That was when she realized she was falling. Then the darkness became very, very White.


	4. White Welcome

Time passed in a haze. Or rather Time did not pass in a haze. Alice remembered Absalom, and then an overbearing Whiteness. She knew sometime between the Whiteness and now her pain had all but disappeared. There was not an exact moment, just there had been pain and now there was not. Her conscious slowly began building from that realization. There was no pain, then what was there? Something soft. Clouds? No it was an impossibility to sleep on clouds, wasn't it? Six impossibilities before breakfast, but I can only imagine one impossibility before death? Alice felt, rather than heard herself snort.

"You would wake laughing wouldn't you?"

Alice's eyes flew open, "Mirana?"

"Good to see you are awake Alice, I was beginning to worry." The White Queen's hands curved in graceful concern as she leaned down to touch Alice's forehead, "not that I had any reason to it seems. You are not in any condition to move – yet – but a few of my potions should right things considerably."

Alice agreed she was in no condition to move, surprise had frozen her as effectively as any injury. "I…I…."

Mirana's wrists bent quizzically, "you?..."

"Nothing," Alice shook her head, pleased that the room did not spin. "I just did not think I would have actually arrived here."

"Nothing is ever nothing dear. But of course you are here, it is where you wished to go is it not?"

"Alice!" an ecstatic voice brayed from the hall, "you are all right!" Bayard bounded happily into the room, tail wagging.

"Bayard!" Alice smiled down at him.

"And the Tweedle brothers as well as Mallymkun," said the White Queen, almost convincingly unperturbed at the interruption and motioning towards the door where the two brothers were standing shyly.

"See I told you she would pull through." "No you did not, I certainly told you."

"At least you look like the right Alice," the small mouse on Tweedledum's shoulder allowed.

Alice greeted them all and then paused, "but where is Chess and – and Hatter?"

Mallymkun rounded on the White Queen, "you mean you haven't told her?"

"Patience my little friend, she has only just woken up."

"Told me what?"

Mirana shook her head, "all in the proper time. Potions first, and perhaps a change of wardrobe." With a fluttering of her hands the Queen shooed all the spectators from Alice's room, leaving behind Baynard. "I will be back with a potion for you Alice, just rest for now." Mirana paused at the door and looked back, lowering her hands briefly, "I am sincerely glad you are back."

Alice matched the Queen's genuine smile with one of her own. As soon as the door closed however her smile faltered, "The knife!" An urgent but gentle prod confirmed what her eyes were already telling her: her chest was wrapped in many bandages but conspicuously knife-free.

"I would not poke around too much, you're still a bit fragile until Mirana gets her potions into you," Baynard grunted as he wiggled his way onto the bed. Alice reached out to scratch him behind the ears as he looked up at her obligingly.

"It's all so strange Baynard, I did not think I had saved any Jabberwocky blood, and yet…"

"You're here so you must have." The simplicity of his statement made Alice giggle, but she silenced herself as the dog continued, "and what an entrance you made – dropping out of nowhere onto the Queen's floor." Baynard's voice grew quiet, a slight whimper following his next words. "you scared me when you came. There was so much blood," big brown eyes looked up at her, "Alice what happened up there?"

Alice shook her head, "I angered someone, but it does not matter now."

"Yes," Mirana's voice floated in before she did, "now you are here and all will be well." She handed Alice a mug frothing with a pinkish foam, managing to only weave it through the air twice on its way to Alice's outstretched hand. "Drink this. It is extract of a doe's – " Alice coughed to interrupt her, "better if I don't know." She gingerly gripped the mug, her arm muscles apparently remembering her recent trauma better than her mind. Sipping slowly, and pretending not to notice what was most probably an eyeball rolling around the bottom of her mug, Alice asked, "So what did Mally mean, about Hatter?"

"Not now dear. After you sleep."

Alice frowned, "but I'm awfully tired of sleeping." Her frown then lifted at the corners. Heh. Tired of sleeping. Now there was a solid contradiction. Even the density of such a contradiction, however, was not enough to keep the potions effects from lulling her back to sleep.

Mirana watched as Alice slipped down into the pillows, softly twisting the mug out of her grip. The mug flew around like a dancing scarf as the Queen flitted around tucking Alice into bed.

"That potion will only do so much you must know."

Mirana tipped mug in a gesture of acknowledgment towards the butterfly lounging on the windowsill. "It is what I can do, the rest is up to her." The mug froze mid-curve, "but if she chooses wrong…"

Absalom huffed, "sometimes you are as much of a silly girl as she. There is neither a wrong choice nor a right choice, merely a choice."

Mirana regained a bit of her serenity, the mug and her free hand dancing once more, "but…yes, I understand."

There was a puff of smoke and Absalom began to fade, "still if you must worry then only remember that she is our Alice."

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**Ohmgee - I did not realize what a warm and fuzzy feeling reviews bring until I received them. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope you all like the new chapters as they come - keep reading and feel free to comment, even if it's just to say "good god woman, what is with you and abusing commas? Your poor English teachers!" I will then acknowledge your astute observation and give you a digital gold-star. **

**Cheers **

**-Savi  
**


	5. Wvordvwine Troubles

When Alice awoke she found the room empty, though a change of clothes had been draped over one of the chairs. Mirana's potion, it seemed, had done its job; she felt a bit sore but otherwise fine. Still better be safe than sorry. Actually no, that is an entirely untrue saying. Better to be sorry and to have experienced something than not at all. Still, Alice cautioned herself, throwing myself out of bed only to fall incapacitated on the floor hardly counts as a worthwhile experience. Thus it was a slow and deliberate slide out of bed. Standing, she found, was pleasantly easy, and though her legs were a little shaky as she moved towards the chair, Alice felt no more unsteady than she did walking onto land after a month at sea. What if, she thought, the sea was the still one and the earth the one to rock? Then we would be the ones living on waves. The mental image of sailing carriages and horses with captain's hats kept a smile in Alice's eyes as she slipped into her clothes. The dress was blue, of course, quarter-sleeves, and with a ankle-length skirt that had just one petticoat to give it volume, a subtraction of fashion for practicality that she appreciated. The only delicacy in the dress was the subtle twirling pattern in fabric. Another highlight: though the outfit had a sash it was delightfully corset and stocking free. Properly attired, though Alice briefly wondered if running around in bandages and pantaloons counted as properly dressed somewhere in the world, she headed towards the Queen's throne room.

McTwisp, naturally, was the first thing Alice ran into upon leaving her room. Literally.

"Dowatchwhereyouare - Alice!" The White Rabbit's speech slowed slightly now that he had found his objective, "You are already awake!" He grabbed her hand urgently, though when did he not do anything urgently? "You are not as late as you would have been yes. But you are still late. Come on now. Hurryhurryhurry!!"

Alice allowed herself to be hurried through the hallways of Marmoreal, but it was hard not to be hurried with exclamation marks nipping at ones toes. They arrived with expected quickness to the throne room and Alice could see a gathered group of familiar characters waiting for them.

"BERRY ALICE! A BERRY HAPPY DAY!"

Alice ducked the strawberry tart aimed (with joy) at her head and greeted the March Hare with a quick, "nice to see you too Thackery," before spying the White Quite tending a plant near the windows.

"Ah, here you are," Mirana twirled a few leaves from the peculiar plant she was pruning to Alice. The growth had one stalk, with leaves protruding only from the top, curving back down so that they hung in a straight line. The leaves near the bottom, like the leaves in Alice's hands, were larger than those nearer to the top of the line and were covered in writing. The top leaf was both the smallest and blank.

Alice looked at the leaves, "what is this?"

"A wvordvwine."

"A wordvine?"

"No dear, a wvorvwine, you must pay attention to the silent constants or it gets a bit uppity with you. Refuses to print properly and such. Luckily this one and I have an understanding." Mirana caressed the air around the plant in such a way that left Alice convinced the uppity wvordvwines made excellent potions. "However the important things for you are not the leaves themselves but the words on them," the Queen said, both her gaze and her wrists looking down at the leaves.

Alice quickly read the leaves, "Entry One, As requested by your Majesty…" Hatter's. Tarrant's words. These were all his, all his rambling, increasingly angered words scrawled across leaves until all that was left was the constant error message: "this wvordvwine is not suited for outlandish, please hold until sender switches back to plain speech, thank you for your patience." Alice had not realized how strongly she had been forcing herself to not think about Hatter until the writing on the leaves suddenly forced her to do the exact opposite. Worry – why were there error messages? Had something happened to him? – and hint of annoyance – of course he'd get himself into a mess – washed over her and for a second it became very hard to breathe. She stared at his words, as if the etching in the leaves would part and show her his green-eyes smile, that little sly one he reserved just for confiding in her. This of course left Alice back where she had started, breathing but still very much constricted with longing for a man and his wonderfully oversized hat. The longing quickly morphed back into worry and oxygen was once again abandoned as possible scenarios ran rampant through Alice's mind. The most heavy-footed of these was one of the Hatter not in Wonderland at all but, instead, lying cold on London's streets, stabbed as Alice had been, the color in his face seeping out along with his blood. Breathe Alice, she attempted to steady herself, breathe. There is are a plethora of circumstances where an over-active imagination is a blessing but I daresay this is not one of them, even Hatter would agree with you on that. Alice stopped herself at that thought, well he might not, but it would be an interesting argument either way, he always has interesting arguments.

"What happened?" Alice asked from behind clenched teeth, afraid that her mouth would run away with her emotions if she gave it more room. Though if it did run away with them at least she would be able to think straight again, might be worth the price of one mouth.

The White Queen sighed gracefully, "I thought he needed something to occupy his mind so I requested he go on a routine border check, to make sure my sister and her favorite assassin were where they ought to be." She glanced at the error messages, "I guess it was not enough of a distraction." Mirana's brow furrowed slightly, hands drooping in empathy, "Even still, short-tempered or not he should have been around the same time you arrived yesterday and I cannot fathom what is keeping him unless there has been some sort of trouble."

"Which is why we need to go find him!" Mallymkun shouted from the side where she as well as the Tweedle brothers and Baynard had been silently standing.

"We?"

Mallymkun glowered, "yes we. The Queen said I wasn't to set off without you."

"If you feel up to going that is," Baynard interjected, pointedly looking at the bit of bandage peeking out from beneath the collar of Alice's dress.

Alice and Mallymkun's responses came simultaneously: "Of course I do/she does!"

Mirana laughed, scooping the mouse up and depositing her on Alice's shoulder in one fluid twirl of her hands. "Well then I would say our search team has been decided." Her other hand arched forward with a small drawstring bag in its palm, "Alice this is for you. In the bag I have placed three vials, medicine as you still have not fully recovered. It is imperative you drink one vial each day. I only had enough ingredients for three days so be sure to find our missing Hatter by then." She smiled comfortingly at Alice's worried look, "I did not mean to alarm you with a time limit; three days should be more than enough."

The White Rabbit hurtled back into the room, breathing as though he had run miles though Alice knew he had been gone for only a minute and so could not have run so far as to warrant his current hyperventilating . "The Bandersnatch is ready your Majesty."

"To the front gates then, follow me." Mirana glided quickly out of the room, the others following her with less a refined sense of urgency.

"Not traveling by hat then," Alice joked softly as she followed the Queen out. Mallymkun must have heard the sadness poorly hidden in her voice because the little warrior responded with what almost sounded like compassion, "no, not this time."

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**So I did not plan to have this chapter done until tomorrow but as I was sitting here watching reruns of Psych a little voice in the back of my mind was constantly going "but what about the readers - they deserve prompt updates you lazy bum!" Thus you have my guilty conscious to thank for this update. **

**Also: Dear Readers and Reviewers, You Rock!  
**

**Cheers,**

**- Savi**

Edit: Jaehn pointed out that I had written Bandercoot instead of Bandersnatch. Thanks for catching that - it's fixed now. Bandercoots may or may not exist but it was not my intention to have them show up here. Oops.


	6. Off the Deep End

Alice and Mallymkun had not made it far from Marmoreal when Chess decided to make his appearance.

"Why is it zee Alice, and a wee warrior?" inquired the floating toothy grin.

"Hello Chess."

"Oh Alice," a giggle, "how positively wonder to have you back." The cat vaporized then reappeared lolling over the Bandersnatch's head in a slow, lazy spin. "Off to find your Hatter then?"

"He's not her Hatter!" protested Mallymkun, adding a few more unsavory words under her breath, something about airhead cats and where they could disappear to.

Alice, however, found she was not particularly inclined to disagree with Chess.

"Where have you been Chess?"

"Oh you know, everywhere in particular."

The little mouse snorted angrily, "and nowhere being helpful."

"Mally you wound me, " Chess clutched his chest and vaporized half of it as if to prove his statement. "I followed dear Hatter for half as long as I could stand him." The cat sighed, "but it is terribly tiresome to deal with him as he is. All the moping and the ranting, monstrously unpleasant."

"So you have no idea where along LandEnd he might be?" asked Mally.

Chess just grinned.

"Useless cat."

"He did not say that he did," mused Alice, "but he did not say that he did not. "

Laughter tickled Alice's shoulders as Chess reappeared curled round them, "so I did not, clever Alice." A puff and he was in front of them once more, "Very well I'll take you to him, or at least where he should be."

* * *

The journey was relatively quick considering Chess was leading; how the Bandersnatch always knew where the senseless cat was about to reappear Alice could not figure out, but she was thankful he could. Normally Chess was highly amusing at best and only slightly irritating at worst, but this was not normally – she had a Hatter to find. Her Hatter.

"Why are you doing this?"

Alice looked at the cat carefully; his interruption had eerily impeccable timing. What was he up to? "As you said, to find Hatter and help him if he needs it."

Chess's trademark Cheshire grin flipped upside down then the rest of his body followed, "no that is the What of what you are doing. What I asked is the Why – a substantially more interesting question I'll have you know." The cat flopped onto his back, still moving just ahead of the Bandersnatch's leaping run. "You've only just arrived," a lone paw ghosted along the bandages near her neck, "and a bit worse for wear at that. No need to rush off so suddenly ." He gave her an entirely too smug and knowing grin, "Unless…"

Alice glanced at him sharply then turned away raising her chin slightly, Ignoring him, capital and all. Did she know why? – hmph. Of course she knew. That day she had slain the Jabberwocky and left Underland and declared she would sail to China, that day that should have been full of new and incessant thoughts was instead filled with remembering how much her heart clenched when the words "Fairfarren Alice" were whispered into her ears. Her sister noticed as much and remarked, "Why Alice if I did not know any better I would say you're lovesick and pining for someone." Margret had then laughed and walked off. Alice, for the sake of seeing where the joke might take her, agreed with Margret, thinking: well there's no hope for it then, I'm in love and pining for Hatter.

Oh.

The Truth, as it often is when uttered without the intent to be truthful, demanded all of her attention.

I am in love with Hatter.

Alice spent the next four years desperately trying to ignore that fact.

Not that she was running from it or anything, but she was succinctly aware that if she stopped to catch her breath she would turn around and throw herself right back down that rabbit hole; and, she could not do that, not then. If nothing else the fact that she had told him she had unfinished business above kept Alice on course when she was most miserable, she could not go back if there had been no reason for her leaving in the first place. So she had fulfilled her father's wish, charted the last uncharitable route worth charting, and then it was back to the rabbit hole. Only, the hole was not there. Which made sense if she considered her first trip to Underland, then Wonderland, had not been through a hole on Ascot's ground. And why would the entrance to Underland stay put if everything else about it was anything but constant? After that Alice had gone into such a melancholy state that Margret and Ascot had practically thrown her on the next boat to China in attempts to raise her spirits. All the distractions of China, though, could not keep Alice from realizing she had no way to keep her promise to the one she loved.

Thank goodness she went and got herself stabbed.

"Ugh, melancholy musings put me in such a mood, I almost don't feel like leading," Chess complained, halting just at the edge of the forest they had been running, or rather galumphing, through.

The sight of the Bandersnatch and his odd crew drew the attention of nearby flowers, who immediately started their commentary even before Alice could irritably ask Chess to lead more and infer less.

"Maybe they're here to stop the incessant racket."

"Oh that would be lovely wouldn't it Lily darling."

"Quite so Marigold, quite so."

Curiosity, as it was wont to do, got the best of Chess. "What racket might that be oh petal –y gossips?"

"They've been going at it since yesterday and while a good tumble now and then is entertaining you'd think they'd have the decency to not carry on the fight overnight."

Lily harrumphed in agreement, adding, "I placed my bet on the Hatter, what with his sword and all."

Marigold nodded, as much as a flower can, "indeed, but I suppose well aimed words can wound a rage that is built on misery."

Lily giggled, "Why Marigold, that was awfully insightful of you."

"Wasn't it? I am rather proud of myself."

"Rude of them not to stay long enough to hear it."

"Quite so Lily, quite so."

Both flowers glared disapprovingly at the shrinking form of the Bandersnatch and his riders, who had taken off before the "ter" in "Hatter" had ended.

* * *

LandEnd was, somewhat unexpectedly all things in Underland considered, as its name implied. Grassy plains with a smattering of gnarled trees teetered off into a cliff edge, though resilient pieces of land jutted out and floated nearby. Every so often a loud cracking sound signaled surrender and said pieces of land dropped below the cliff.

The Hatter was not hard to spot, they heard his rage, oppressive rage that almost turned the air around him as burnt orange as his eyes, yards before they ever saw him. His fiery hair seemed longer, but Alice could attribute that to how it stood on end as he yelled angrily, hopelessly, in Outlandish at his foes. The Red ex-Queen and her ex-loyal Knave, still connected by Mirana's binding, were slowly edging Hatter towards the cliff's edge, their final push held off only by his blade.

The Bandersnatch slowed, well aware his gigantic form would not help by rushing headlong into such a precarious situation, but Alice and Mallymkun showed no such inclination towards loss of momentum and they leaped off him and ran towards the cliff without a second thought. Alice, by virtue of longer legs, reached the combatants first. She immediately threw herself at Iracebeth, grabbing the short woman by the shoulders in an attempt to drag her away from Hatter. "HATTER!"

Perhaps it was that she was blocked by Iracebeth's giant mass of head and hair, or perhaps Hatter was too far gone for just one scream to reach him, either way he did not even so much as flinch at Alice's call. All his attention was on the Knave who snarled and moved forward, "that's right, she up and left you. What could you mean to her? A mad man. Why your heart was easier to slay than the Jabberwocky and probably afforded her a lot more pleasure."

Alice's protest was lost under the stream of unintelligible curses Hatter spat back at Stayne so she changed her tactic, sinking her nails in hard as she clutched at the Knave's forearm, using it to propel her in front of him. "TARRANT HIGHTOPP LOOK AT ME!"

"Alice?"

For a brief second she saw the comforting glimmer of emerald underneath heated orange.

That second was all Stayne and Iracebeth needed.

Down went Hatter, incredulity still stamped across his face.

Alice heard someone scream "NO" and realized about halfway through the thirty-second "o" that it was her. Then several things happened at once. Mallymkun appeared on the Red ex-Queen's shoulder, hatpin shoved against her jugular. The Bandersnatch followed behind the mouse, standing so that he securely blocked any escape from the edge and Chess materialized over the edge, chortling, "oh that's not so good."

Alice rounded on the captives, "what have you done!"

"Oh he's fine from the fall. Nothing you can do though," Iracebeth laughed with more than her usual amount of malice. "He's gone over the deep end. Off he went. Wheeee. All the way to the bottom. No way up from there."

"I can handle his madness."

Mallymkun sighed, "no he went off the literal Deep End." She pointed halfheartedly to a nearby that had "Danger: Deep End" scrawled across in rather hasty letters. The double e's changed into a toothy grin, "doesn't necessarily mean he's not gone off the mental one too."

Both mouse and woman chose to ignore Chess.

"Mally, can you and Bandersnatch handle these two?"

The Bandersnatch growled in confirmation as the mouse nodded. "Won't be a problem, but Alice what are you – oh blast it all!"

Alice too, had fallen (or, more accurately, thrown herself most adamantly) off the Deep End.

* * *

**Sorry – daily updates a bit tricky during the school week, but every other day should be doable yes? Yes.**

**Finally a Hatter spotting! A very brief one true, but we'll be seeing a lot more of him after this. Also, Alice's understandable annoyance with Chess aside, I do love that cat. If they ever make a Cheshire Cat plushie I am so owning five. Possibly six.**

**Also I edited this chapter while pondering sleep, so I may have missed things, if you find anything, slay away! And as always much love to the readers and reviewers both, you guys make my day!  
**

**Cheers,**

**Savi**


	7. Of Splats and Character

As she tumbled through the air Alice became very aware of the fact she had not considered what to do after the initial leap. Oh sure, throwing yourself over the cliff seemed like an excellent idea at the time, she chided herself, you'll certainly be able to help Hatter when you're a flattened smear on the ground below. However, as soon as she realized the flaw in her plan the air around her began to condense; where she had at first been falling through clear sky she was now moving through a murky fog that grew thicker as she continued through it. The dark mist had clearly missed a physics lecture or three and so was able to slow her fall down enough that when she finally hit bottom it was only with a "splat" instead of the much more painful "ker-SPLAT!" she had been expecting. Not that it still did not hurt, mind you.

I have really, Alice grimaced, got to stop traveling this way.

A twinge of pain from her chest ever so kindly suggested Alice remove herself from her rather undignified landing-sprawl. Once she was upright, Alice reached for the drawstring pouch, which was thankfully still tied to her sash. As she was drinking one of Mirana's poitions (as she had been falling for some time, and that plus the journey to LandEnd had to equal about a day. Maybe. Roughly.) a low sound tumbled into her ears. Of course the fog was mixing everything up so she had to take a minute to un-jumble everything before hearing:

"The borogoves are not so mimsy now, no they have lost their mimsy. Gone gone gone."

What on Earth is a borogrove, Alice thought, and why should it's natural state be mimsy? Mimsy. Rolls right off the tongue doesn't it. Has a good, skipping like quality to it. Unlike some adjectives which are just so weighty that they took away from their own meaning. Though now that I think about it I can find any weighty examples. Ecstatic has an excellent snap to it, and even exultant, though rather pompous, holds through the "xul" so well you can't help but smile when you use it.

The low voice rang out again, lightly capturing Alice's focus, which was fully ensnared when she saw the silhouette of a hat outlined against the fog. Standing she inched closer towards the figure, "Hatter? Hatter it's me Alice."

He kept his back to her. "Aye, that's what ye always say."

"What I always say?"

His head snapped round, orange eyes flaring with pained rage and a Scottish lilt coating his words, "Donna play coy wi'h me snip of a hallucination."

"_Excuse me?_"

"Ye do her face well, much better than the last memory. I suppose this means ye'll hurt more than the last one too."

So now I'm a figment of _his_ imagination? The irony almost made Alice giggle. Almost. But now was a time to be serious, they could laugh about this later. "Hatter – I'm the real Alice."

"Of course ye are. So was the one before ye. And the one before that one that was before ye. And the one before that one that was the one before that one that was the one before ye. And so on and so forth." He gave her a long look, "only one way ta get rid of ye, aye?" Without waiting for an answer he continued on, "Aye. Might as well start this 'ere butchery: why 'aven't ye come back?"

In hindsight, Alice realized, she should have patiently stuck to convincing him she was real. At the time though, she was just miffed enough to respond, "You do not think I did not TRY?"

Hatter harrumphed, " an' what is trying? She could DO."

"I tried after a year, the rabbit hole had moved!"

"The REAL Alice wouldn't 'ave let that get in 'er way," the Hatter growled.

"I AM THE REAL ALICE!" Alice proclaimed, cheeks flushed with effort. Hatter had paused, taken aback by her outburst and for a moment his eyes begin to clear. The fog , however, curled closer round his feet and the madness crept back in.

"Oh an' this time I'm 'ta believe ya? No this is the last time I let ye yearnings of me mind tempt me inta believin' anything let alone into believin' she's finally come back for me. There some kina sign floatin' 'round me 'ead? Mad Hatter here, haunt as ye please. Thinkin' I needed more hautin'. I was managing to plague meself just dandily before ye came along. Some might even say swimmingly. Why I oughta know the ins and outs of me own 'eart. The sideways and backwards too. For that matter the upside downs and the loop-de-loops. All the which ways and thataways that 'ave been TORN OUT AND STRUNG UP SO THAT I CANNA DO NAUGHT BUT– "

"Hatter." Alice's voice was quiet.

" – FOUR YEARS OF THIS RIDICULOUS WAITING AND WAITING RIDICULOUSLY UNTIL – "

"_Hatter."_

" – MYNE HART SYUNDHERENG KAHTFAHLS O' FIOTLH – "

She pinched him. Hard.

"– Fez – " The orange rims faded from his iris and the Hatter blinked, looking with bewilderment down at the young woman before him.

Alice? – I – you – oh gods – it is actually you." He brightened immediately and reached for her then flinched back, "by a dodo bird's left – I – you heard all that." His eyes immediately lost their glow, posture giving way to misery.

Sadness, Alice was beginning to realize, could consume the Hatter just as much as rage.

She cupped her hands under his chin and slowly tilted his head so his eyes were forced to meet hers. He refused to meet her gaze, looking hurriedly side to side, anywhere but at her, making the green in his eyes dance so quickly that Alice felt a bit dizzy watching them.

"Did you know that in China they do not add milk and sugar to their tea?"

Silence, though he finally looked at her, eyebrow quirking slightly.

"They say it pollutes the character of the tea. The character. Can you imagine what they thought of us, drowning our tea in milk and sugar?"

"Perhaps teas' characters needs a bit of sweetening," interjected the Hatter, unable to remain silent despite his best intentions to mope most heartily.

"Exactly what I thought – I mean who wants to meet with a plain earl grey? He's most unpalatable without at least two sugars."

"Morning tea without cream, why it isn't morning tea at all. Not even a half-morning."

"Quarter-morning perhaps?" Alice offered.

"Perhaps. But what use is that? Why you'd barely have time to put on your socks when brunch arrives, which simply won't do. Socks are a most serious business and absolutely require more than a quarter-morning to deal with otherwise you run the risk of hastily putting on a matching pair and there is nothing quite so boring as wearing a matching pair, as we all know. It is only when you wear separate ones can your feet think for themselves properly –" He trailed off, suddenly aware of the bemused smile creeping across Alice's face. He had been, he realized, tricked – completely diverted and – oh – her palms were still pressed against his face. He delicately laid his hands over hers and lowered them. With a half-hearted smile, gaining an eighth of a heart every second he looked at her, Hatter asked, "Shall we then?"

"Iracebeth said no one has ever come up from the Deep End."

"Ah but we're not no one. You are an Alice," he stood up and she slipper her arm into his, "and I'm a Hatter."

Alice grinned up at him, "well then I suppose we'll be just fine."

* * *

**So you ever have a story all planned out in your head, except for one chapter, and you keep telling yourself you'll work on that chapter eventually, it's halfway through the story, no need to worry about it now. Then out of the blue that chapter is the next one and you're staring at a blank word document while your equally blank mind laughs at you? **

**Yaaaaaa.**

**Cheers,**

**- Savi **

**P.S. As always many a heart to the readers + reviewers both!  
**


	8. A Foggy Grin

Alice and Hatter had been wandering along the cliff bottom for somewhere between ten minutes and ten hours. The exact time was hard to pinpoint because their conversations kept them most diverted, and it was only during the painful lulls, when Hatter trailed off from some anecdote (like the one about Mally chasing Thackery halfway up Marmoreal's front gates with a tea cozy), recalling his own misery, that they again felt the futile nature of their quest. Alice always had another random story from her adventures in China ready, though, so they quickly forgot they had ever paused.

Hatter at one point tried to ask about the bandages peeking up from under Alice's dress, but she had looked at him so archly when he merely glanced at them that he assumed they had some sort of fashion purpose and it was always best never to question a lady on her clothing choice. Besides, they matched the bandages on his hands quite wonderfully. Symmetry in certain areas, Hatter mused, is surprisingly nice.

However, after Alice had finished carefully explaining how chopsticks were supposed to work, and lamenting she could think of twenty other ways they were far more useful than as utensils (to which Hatter added twelve and a half more), she had to admit they might have a slight problem.

"I'm beginning to think we're approaching this the wrong way."

"Should we be walking backwards then?"

"Not what I meant." Alice tried to keep the smirk off her face but was unsuccessful. "Still I do not think we should stray too far from the cliff either." She looked to their right, away from the solid cliff walls and towards the sprawling fog. Silhouetted shapes rose up occasionally, hinting at twisted trees, and every so often the sound of rushing water gurgled up. However, when Alice focused on the sound it became less like water and more like voices, whispering, laughing, crying voices winding their way through the fog. She was beginning to think the noise came from the fog itself, something about the way it drifted and curled – in a bemused yet lazy manner- was very much the act of a sentient being. Or beings.

"Keeps her head on her shoulders this one," a voice drawled.

Alice and Hatter spun around to see a weasel, though his dark coat was oddly striped and his limbs were too long and thin to be a true weasel, surveying them from his perch in the air. The weasel grinned at them then his head vanished, reappearing between his paws where he batted it around lazily. "As for me I prefer mine a bit looser, flexibility is a must down here." He shrugged, "and while you're both delightfully loose as humans go, one more than the other," golden eyes lingered on Hatter, "you simply won't cut it for permanent residents."

Hatter had frozen, stuck deciding between whether to draw his sword or throw a tea cup at the creature; at which point he had realized he hadn't a tea cup on hand and was then completely distracted by trying to discern how he had ever set off from Marmoreal in the first place without at least one tea cup. Alice reacted a little better, though she had to admit she expected a tea cup to hit the wispy creature as well (it was the proper response to all things grinning and vapory wasn't it?), and asked, "are you proposing you know a way out of here?"

"Oh I know several ways. A myriad of ways. Ways that lead to other ways that lead to ways yet unknown. So many ways there are not enough ways to describe where they all lead to." He faded out then back in, head reattached though all of him was still lounging in midair. "And, for the elixirs you carry, I will take you the way you need."

"Elixirs?" Hatter asked.

Alice nodded slowly, "Mirana gave me a few potions in case of …an emergency."

"An emergency?" There had been a pause in her words which made Hatter wary, pauses could be full of anything if you paid attention to them. There had been quite a few pauses, in his experience, that had contained nasty surprises for later on that, if he had but listened to them, could have been avoided. Besides, every time Thackery paused mid-speech it meant he was about to hurl something through the air so pauses were good things to watch out for, just as a general rule.

For a moment Alice did not meet his eyes then her shoulders straightened and she smiled up at him, "yes an emergency. Just like the one we find ourselves in now." She carefully removed the two vials from the bag, holding them just out of reach of the weasel's floating paws. "These potions for our way up, that is the deal?"

"Right you are."

Hatter frowned at the creature, "I did not think your kind were prone to acts of kindness."

The weasels grin grew, "my offer is not at all kind."

"Then we are taking a gamble?" Hatter fiddled with a few stray hat pins on his jacket sleeve, "not that I'm against a risk or two. Quite for them actually. Mystery invigorates one just so, you know? But still I do prefer not to agree to anything or with anything that vaporizes so readily. Your agreements never seem to be as transparent as the rest of you."

Alice, however, had already placed her bet. She tilted the vials into the outstretched paws and tried not to look worried. It is still more likely, she told herself, that Hatter and I make it back to the White Court within a day once we are back in Underland proper than for us to make it out of here in two days time.

The weasel's paws disappeared and the vials with them. Though his paws came back momentarily, attached to his arms once again, the elixirs were nowhere to be seen. "Pleasure doing business with you." He lazily drifted toward the cliff wall, "now for my side of the deal." Once his body hit the rocky wall the smoky creature disappeared entirely and for a moment Alice and Hatter feared he had left them. After a few moments, however, two golden eyes appeared on the rock, glittering gleefully at them. Wispy stripes began to scuttle across the rock in crooked lines so that when they stopped something like a wrought-iron gate appeared etched into the cliff. The gate turned on paw-like hinges and opened out towards a very amazed Alice and slightly bewildered Hatter.

"Well," a sharp-toothed grin appeared in the middle of the door, "up you go."

Hatter was the first to peek through doorway, marveling at the meandering staircase that started from the threshold and continued upwards in a most dimensionally confusing manner. He offered Alice his arm, "stairs like these are crafted with such skill I feel like we must climb them or we'd be doing them a great injustice."

"Well for the sake of the stairs then."

Hatter chuckled, "and perhaps a few other sakes as well."

"One or two," Alice conceded.

"But who's counting?"

Alice could feel Hatter's worried laughter through his arm, and she drew in a bit closer to his side. "Not these stairs, for sure. There's too many for proper numbers so we'd best be heading up." A nod of the hat signaled he agreed and they began their climb.

"One more thing." They both looked back at the weasel-door, "If you have the chance," his teeth took on a threatening angle, "do tell Chessur to wipe that insufferable grin off his mangy, deserting face."

* * *

**Oh Alice, you shouldn't lie to your Hatter, it's not good to do. **

**Also, I always thought Chess came from a stock of creatures much more sinister than he himself was - perhaps that's taking too much of a liberty though, let me know what you think?(That's you amazing readers and reviewers!)  
**

**Cheers,**

**-Savi  
**


	9. Climbing and Waltzing Back

The stairs were …well the stairs were long. At one point Hatter started counting every three-pair of stairs in a sing-song voice until Alice threatened than she would shove him off and this time she would certainly not jump down after him. Though she had expected him to respond in kind, something like how the stairs appreciated his musical interpretation and would not let him fall, Hatter instead fell silent for a moment before asking, "Why did you jump the first time?"

I… You were falling; it seemed like the right thing to do."

"You did not think about it?"

"No I most definitely thought about it." A shy smile crept onto her face as she added silently; decisions of the heart are probably just faster than decisions of the mind. Realizing she was blushing Alice quickly added, "Still, if I never see another stair again it will be too soon."

"That's quite prejudiced against stairs, it is not their fault we have to climb them."

"Oh so whose fault is it then?"

Hatter, at that point, realized it was in his best interest to not continue his line of conversation, but it was too late – Alice pounced, "Shall I blame the one who went and got himself thrown over a cliff then? Hmm?"

"No. No I believe you were right the first time. Those dastardly stairs. Horrible creatures. Hate the whole lot!"

"Now who's prejudiced?" Alice chided with mock scorn.

He grinned back and Alice decided there was nothing quite as mesmerizing as Hatter's grin. She could see the humor with which he reacted to her teasing, the intelligence and wit with which he teased her back, and the pleasure he found in an equal partner. His grin, though, did not completely fill his eyes, behind the carefree green a far darker color hid a far darker grin. This grin belonged to the self-deprecating Hatter. The one that had given up, the one who all but let himself be pushed off a cliff. They had avoided talking about that Hatter so far, but Alice could still see him, following behind them and growing ever more apparent with each silence. Enough, thought Alice, best to just attack it head on. Or hat on. En garde.

"How long?"

"How long what?

"How long have hallucinations kept you company?"

She felt him fidget as he tried to avoid the question, "when do they not? Hallucinations are but imagination and what a boring life I would lead if I had none of that. Why the last time you were here I recall you saying you dream up six impossibilities before breakfast and I remarked what an admirable practice that was, so clearly this imagination and dreaming business should not be of concern, why it's absence would be the more worrisome thing really, and – "

"Tarrant, answer me please."

Even Hatter's roundabout answers could not avoid the directness of Alice's order and he sighed heavily, refusing to meet her gaze as he mumbled, "How many days are in a year?"

"Oh …"

"How many years between now and then?"

"Since the day I left?" Alice could not keep the incredulity out of her voice.

"No…not immediately. But when you left some of my muchness must have left with you." He looked at her and tried to smile, "terribly rude of it don't you think? Running off without a second thought."

Alice frowned slightly, "maybe your muchness had prior obligations, which you would have known, it being your muchness and all."

"Well my muchness could have at least stayed for the celebration instead flying off in a most hurried manner."

They were both very aware Hatter's muchness was not, and had never really been the subject of this particular problem, but metaphors were terribly convenient shields.

"Your muchness had to hurry away so it could reject a marriage proposal from someone who was the antithesis of muchness."

"My muchness," Hatter stopped, thoughts completely derailed by the words "marriage proposal." Derailed was really too soft a term, more like his train of thought flew off the tracks, over the cliff, and down the gorge. " PROPOSAL?!"

His shocked expression, with hints of orange around the rims of his eyes, was the last thing Alice saw before they both ran straight into something solid. In their defense neither Hatter nor Alice had been looking in front of them for quite some time, as after a couple thousand steps (one thousand two hundred and five to be exact) it was easy to climb without much conscious thought.

"I suppose this means we've reached the exit," Alice stated, gingerly rubbing her cheek. The solid object was a door that stood on the step above them and seemingly led to nowhere as, if Alice craned her neck just so, she could see the backside of the door. Still, just because something appeared to do something or not do something did not at all reveal its actual purpose – this was Underland after all – so Alice turned the knob to open the door almost completely confident something different would appear on the other side.

Her expectations were rewarded, the door swung open to reveal a grassy island floating among the clouds in a light blue sky. A sign post was the only thing aside from the door on the floating island, which was really more of a floating rock. In large block letters was "Other side of the Fine Line" scrawled across the sign, and in smaller letters under it read "Please do not walk back across." There was an arrow pointing forward, and if Alice squinted in its direction she could just make out what might be land on the horizon.

"I can't really imagine anyone could walk back across, wherever across might be." Alice turned to Hatter for confirmation only to realize he was no longer next to her. He was still standing stupefied in the doorway, hat knocked askew by shock (or by merit of running headlong into the door).

"Oh come now, it was Hamish. As if I would say yes to him. That would be like agreeing to marry a rock, but at least a rock as a couple centuries of history behind it to make it interesting; Hamish does not even have that."

Hatter finally moved through the doorway, closing it behind him. "That is what you left unfinished, a marriage proposal?"

Alice snorted, "no that was just an annoying prerequisite."

Hatter readjusted his hat, "Oh, that's remarkably good to hear. Not to say you should not be –" midway through his explanation he realized they were stranded. "That two-faced whimsy of a weasel," Hatter growled.

Alice sat down in front of the sign, dress billowing out around her. "There must be some way off of here."

"I'm sure it's easy to continue from this island if you can vaporize. Unfortunately we are a bit lacking in that department, something I'm sure that blunderhead neglected to concern himself with."

"Even he would have known we can't just waltz our way – " Alice trailed off, turning to Hatter with a playful sparkle in her eye.

He glanced at the sign then immediately caught on, "Waltzing is most definitely not walking. "He gave a slight bow and offered Alice his hand, "would you care to dance?"

Alice slipped her hand into his and let herself be pulled up. They easily fell into a waltz position, her other hand resting comfortably on Hatter's waist. He led them in a few practice steps over the grass and then, with a devious look in his eyes, asked "off we go?"

Alice matched his look, "need you ask?"

And with a twirl they had left solid ground. There was a slight drop, maybe a few centimeters at most, before the air started to support them. Something about the way the light played under their feet made them feel as if they weighed half as much as they had before. Suddenly it was a contest to see who could dance with more grace – Alice and Hatter or the passing clouds.

Alice sighed happily, "I've always imagined what it would be like to fly."

"Then you still should, we are dancing not flying."

"My head knows that but my feelings are convinced there is not such a distinction between the two here."

Hatter nodded approvingly.

"I wonder what would happen if we stopped dancing," Alice said as she watched her feet circle through empty air.

"I find I'm not particularly inclined to find out."

Alice laughed, "for once not curious?"

"Oh no, quite so still. But I've had quite enough falling down for one day. If we were to fall up or sideways perhaps it might be worth investigation, but anything in a generally downward direction I reject."

"I've fallen up, it's much like falling down, I wouldn't recommend it personally." Alice wrinkled her nose to emphasize her distaste.

Hatter chuckled, "Alice, Underland's Expert on All Things Falling."

"Hatter, Underland's UnExpert on Suitable Titles."

* * *

It was easy to let conversation lull because both were so distracted by the peculiarities of waltzing in the sky. The silence they fell into was not the morbid silence of their earlier journey, but instead the distracted one of wondering if clouds would make good chairs or if they danced fast enough could they make their own wind? At some point Alice leaned in to rest her head on Hatter's shoulder, mumbling "I'm feeling a bit tired," by way of explanation. Hatter made no objection, tightening his grip slightly as to better support her.

"How... " Hatter's musing interrupted Alice's thoughts.

"How what?"Alice asked through a yawn.

He took a deep breath and, with eyes mostly squeezed shut, quickly asked, "How long are you in Underland?" Of course he said it far too fast and all Alice heard was "How gongs are under the sand?" Her mystified look was enough to force him to breathe in once or four times and repeat his question as slow as he could (which was of course still twice as fast as it needed to be).

"How long is bloody big head sentenced to exile?" Alice countered mischievously.

She could feel him tense, "you mean to say – that – you are exiled here until the end of Underland too?" His eyes lit up, "I didn't mean exiled as that would mean Upperland did not want you and I cannot fathom a place that would not want an Alice. No, every place would want an Alice. But our place has got an Alice. Which makes our place infinitely superior to other places in so much as other places –"

"Hatter."

He grinned down at her at once sheepish and exuberantly, ridiculously happy. "I…This calls for a Futterwacken."

His happiness was infectious and Alice could not help but start laughing, "Hatter, Hatter! We have to waltz! You can't Futterwacken with two people."

"I certainly intend to try!"

Alice squealed as he grabbed her round the waist and spun them both around most dizzily in circles.

Neither of them was prepared for land to appear so when they hit grass momentum got the best of them and they landed in a tangled heap of Alice and Hatter.

"Do you always giggle indecently on other people's lawns?" A dry voice interrupted them.

They turned to look at a large, irate bird, wings on his hips.

"Oh – uhm, do pardon the intrusion, quite by accident you see, really circumstance of chance." Hatter said as he helped Alice up.

"Mhm. I'm sure." The bird grumbled, observing how Alice's hand lingered on Hatter's even after she was standing.

"Philipe, we have visitors?" An older man appeared at the doorway.

Alice curtsied, still giggling slightly as she spoke, "Alice Kingsley, Sir, so sorry about the – "

It was at that moment she looked up to see who she was addressing. All the color drained from her face and her mouth hung open, shock and surprise leaving her speechless. Now Alice was usually not the type to faint, she thought the girls back home weak for fainting at every little thing, a waste of time and energy really. In this instance, however, she felt completely justified. After all, when facing the father she long thought dead, what was Alice to do but faint?

So faint she did.

* * *

**Long time no post. Life got in the way, how troublesome right?**

**Thank you for all the reviews! It's a beautiful thing to open my e-mail and see [Review Alert]. [Story Alert] and [Favorite Alert] too. Basically, you readers are awesome, hats off to you!**

**I know a lot of writers bring Alice's Dad into Underland and I admit I'm hopping on that bandwagon. There's just something about the way he responds to her 'dream' in the movie that is far too suspicious to suspect him of anything less than visiting Underland himself.  
**

**Going to Japan for the weekend – will try to have the next chapter up tomorrow before I leave but no promises. If not then definitely Monday when I get back.  
**

**Cheers,**

**- Savi **


	10. A HeartWrenching Meeting

The man in the doorway moved for Alice as she fell, but Hatter was there first. He supported her weight against his legs, crouching awkwardly to both shield her and face the stranger. "I'm sorry Sir, I must have missed your introduction." Hatter's smile was bright and inviting but his narrowed eyes, quickly losing their emerald color, indicated he was anything but pleased.

The older man stopped and held his hands up in a gesture of peace, "Charles Kingsley." His gaze met Hatter's, equally stubborn, "and I might inquire as to who you are and," he glanced at Hatter's protective stance, "what your intentions regarding my daughter are."

"Kingsley? Daughter?" Hatter straightened slightly, "that would mean you are her father and oh – oh dear, intentions. I don't have any. Well that's not to say that I feel nothing for your daughter. Quite the contrary, I just meant I did not have any negative intentions. But I thought it best to start by saying I had none as you, being her father, would not want to hear anything about any fellow having anything to do with his daughter. At least that is what I've heard from other fathers and their daughters. Of course Alice is not just any daughter so I'm sure that makes you not just any father and so – "

While Hatter was still flabbergastedly trying to answer Kingsley's question Alice recovered, flying from Hatter's grip into her father's arms. "Papa!" Burying her face into his chest she stood there, incoherent questions coming out in small sobs.

Phillipe the bird looked on crossly, plumage changing from spotted red to dark brown, "Really Charles we do not have time for this."

"Alice. Oh Alice," Kingsley stroked her hair, "my darling daughter."

She looked up into his eyes, blue like her own, "How is this possible? I thought I would never see you again. Why you have not changed a …" Her face suddenly went blank and she slowly retreated from his embrace, backing away until she was leaning up against Hatter.

"Alice please, it's not how you think."

"You have not changed at all. At ALL." This time as she looked at him her gaze was cold. "For thirteen years we mourned. For thirteen years you were living but a breath away from your wife and children."

Phillipe held up a wing, "Now is not the time."

Time this, time that. All the bird ever protested was there was not enough time, Alice thought bitterly. She chose to ignore the bird, continuing, "I was here! In Underland! You could have at least given me a sign, a letter, something! Anything!"

"It is not that simple," her father protested.

"No, what is simple is being dead and gone. Instead you are here very much alive but dead to all who loved you which is but one step away from being truly dead." Alice's voice was low with anger and frustration and when Hatter gripped her shoulders he could feel her shaking. "How could you agree to that? Under what circumstances could you –" Several emotions screeched across Alice's face even as her words screeched to a halt. Somewhere between pain, confusion, and a glimmer of realization, Alice turned into Hatter's embrace, clenching at the back of his molted jacket.

"Alice," she heard her father plead, "I will explain everything once we have time."

Time.

Oh.

Time, whom Alice had been so slyly evading, finally caught up with her, as the last effects of Mirana's potion wore off. Hatter pushed her slightly away from him as he felt something damp against his shirt, staring wordlessly at the red stain growing slowly from above her heart.

Her father reacted faster this time, taking her from Hatter's grip and carrying inside the small cabin, settling her form into a chair. "Phillipe?"

Phillipe followed them in, sighing as if he had expected this (which considering how often he had been ignored, he surely had), "Charles, there is still one thing she must do lest Time and that knife claim their due."

Hatter did not comprehend the bird's words so much as he saw the understanding and resignation in Alice's look. Her blue eyes told him she had known she was dying, that she had been dying all along. No. Not again. She would not leave him again. Especially not like this, torn away by a foe he had banished before. Time – the bastard – would pay. Hatter looked around the small house wildly until he found his target. With a haggard cry he plunged his sword into the clock's face in a frenzied gesture. "SHOW YE SELF O' ROBBER!" Gripping the sword with both hands he tore through the face in a downward motion. Glass, cogs, and springs popped from their places, and as the clock was cleaved in half so too was the fabric of reality. "OUT WI'H YE TIME. I SLAYNE THEE ONCE AN' I CAN DO IT AGAEIN!"

"Cease, or would you see this world shattered to save one girl."

Hatter growled, "For her I would shatter a thousand worlds." He glanced down at Alice, whose dress was becoming rapidly less blue. "TIME!" His cry was hoarse and desperate as he split the present further apart.

"Stop." Phillipe tore the sword from Hatter's grasp (no minor feat) and handed it to Alice, "she must be the one to do it or the bargain will be void." The bird shifted face from that of a falcon to that of an owl, "will you accept child?"

Accept, accept what? Alice had caught Hatter's gaze when she felt her wound reopen. She had tried to look confident, tried to assure him with her eyes that she meant to live through this, would live through this. Outward Alice, though, apparently only managed to look resigned. Inward Alice tried to protest but she took too long and suddenly she was in a chair and Hatter was hacking away at something. It was destroying him, she could see that, whatever cause he fought desperately for was eating away at his sanity at an alarming rate. Then the bird with too many forms offered her his sword, if she accepted would Hatter stop? Maybe that's what he meant. Accept and Hatter will be out of danger. She stretched her hand out, staring at the fingertips as if they belonged to someone else as she could not see her wrist through the haze of blood and pain. Alice's fingers curled round the hilt just as Hatter lunged for his sword, "I accept."

* * *

**I swear everything will be explained. Just not in this chapter. Mwahha.**

**Does anyone know at what point in time "Dad" came into use? I feel awkward making Alice shout "Father!" but I feel like in the late 1800s people didn't use "Dad." **

**Thanks for all the reviews and hope you enjoy reading!**

**Cheers,**

**- Savi  
**


	11. Slaying Time

Once Alice had accepted the sword the scene changed drastically. Gone was the little cottage, gone was the odd bird, and gone was her father, and gone was Hatter. Gone too was the confusion and haze that comes with pain. Alice was alone, standing in darkness. If it was the same darkness as she had been in on her journey to Underland it was hard to say. How did you tell if one darkness was like another darkness? The criteria for judging that would probably be very hard to determine. Still it seemed similar and prompted Alice's question: Am I dying again?

"You are dying. Just not for this moment. This non-moment rather."

Alice blinked and there was the old man with impossibly young eyes. Or was it the young man with the impossibly old eyes. Either way, there was Time, standing still before her.

The sword in her grasp suddenly felt twice its weight. "I must slay you then?"

"If you want to stay in Underland, yes you must – "

* * *

" – slay him." Charles Kinsgely stated.

Death chuckled, candle bobbing up and down as he laughed. "You have no doubt she'll kill him then? Wonderful, I was hoping our deal would close soon." The antlered man removed his candle with two fingers and jabbed it near Kingsley's face. The flame flickered weakly, barely emitting any light. "A-yup, definitely going to happen. Sure you don't want to back out?"

"How could I? My life is nothing compared to my child's."

Never one for noble silences, Death whistled awkwardly before puffing away at his candle once more. "Sooo… since we've got time, or since your daughter has Time," he smirked, "mind telling me how exactly you evaded me n' my partner these thirteen years?" A bit of wax dripped off the candle into darkness, "I know your daughter had those lovely little potions from the White Queen, at least until she bargained them away. What did you have – that dodgy old dreamer?"

Kingsley glanced at Absalom, the only other source of light in their dark surroundings besides Death's choice of cigarette. The butterfly hummed, slightly annoyed. "Explain it to him or he'll just cause trouble trying to figure it out."

"Yes, I had Phillipe. Once I found my way back Underland, whilst drowning you might recall, I was safe from you. As for Time, as long as I stayed in Phillipe's cottage, on his territory, there was no way Time would find me, and thus no way you would find me either."

Death frowned, "isn't that against the – "

* * *

" – rules?"

Time did not shake his head, but Alice had the distinct impression he meant to. "You are not bound to any rule except the one. I am bound by my own rule. The only Time we're concerned with is the Time that has to do with you. So only you can move and the rest of Time must be still for your decision."

"So that is why you have not moved."

"Yes." There was a slight hint of exasperation in his voice.

"That's all there is to it? No catch?" Alice asked hesitantly, something felt off.

"This is merely a formality, your choice saw to that, though I still say you cheated."

Alice suddenly had the feeling there was something much larger surrounding the whole situation than there seemed to be at first glance. An elephant in the room that for some reason she could just not see. Swell, Alice thought, I'm hesitating because of invisible elephants. Time to oust the proverbial pachyderm. "Formality?"

"Yes," there was definite strain in Time's voice though his lips did not move. "A formality all Underlanders must go through, most just don't do it as consciously as you are. Now come on make your – "

* * *

" – choice." Absalom flexed his wings then continued, "and as it was Phillipe's choice as his friend, not Phillipe's choice as a guardian, there were no rules broken when he agreed to hide Charles."

Death was silent for a few moments, smoke rings swirling in time with his thoughts. "Building this whole thing on loopholes, aren't we butter-butt?"

Absalom ignored him.

Death ignored that he was being ignored, "hey – no complaints here. I get to call in Charles' here debt. Everybody wins." He smirked, "well everybody but you Kingsley, you just end up – "

* * *

" – dead." Time now sounded like he wanted to leap from his spot in frustration. "If you don't kill me you'll end up dying as that wound in your chest intended you to."

Alice was perfectly aware of that, at this point she was amusing herself watching how emotion conveyed itself through Time's perfectly still form. It was a bit satisfying to annoy him; she felt he deserved it though she could not quite put her finger on why. Hatter might know, he seemed well acquainted with the crotchety old power. She took comfort in the fact it was Hatter's sword she had with her, as if her Hatter was there helping. For him she supposed she should be quick about this business. This time around Alice knew she was perfectly capable of slaying.

"Well slain or be slain."

Alice raised the sword high, arm muscles straining, then swung it down towards Time's unblinking gaze. As the blade hissed through the air Alice saw figures appear behind him. The antlered man, Death, was there, his hand resting on her father's shoulder. Absalom was there as well, fluttering nearer and nearer to her. Mid-swing Alice realized what the catch was. She tried to change the sword's path, but Momentum and Gravity had not stopped like Time had. As the blade hit the young man's wrinkled neck Alice met her father's resolute, sad eyes. She heard Death laugh, "she actually did it! Sword and all!" She heard Absalom's retort, and then his command for her to follow him, she had done well. Above all else she heard her father's voice as a he surrendered to Death: "I love you, my daughter Alice."

* * *

**Midterms are finally over which means I finally have time to write. Thought about making this chapter longer but then figured it was better to have a shorter chapter with some things left unexplained than to put off updating any longer. **

**Updates should be regular again.  
**

**Cheers,**

**-Savi **

**P.S. I wanted to play with narration a little bit. Does this format work or is it too confusing/jumps too much?  
**


	12. To Hold

Hatter knew how to deal with a lot of things. He was a fairly adaptable man, throw him into almost any situation and he could make it work. Boring tea-party? Easy. Doomed to be beheaded? No problem.

Crying Alice? Heavens help him.

Hatter had managed to come out of his rage after face-planting into a chair (the result of lunging after a girl and a sword that had disappeared into thin air). The strange bird had just enough time to mutter "Time" by way of explanation, when Alice had reappeared, dropped the sword, and flung herself into him. Between the sobs he had heard something about "deal" and "Papa." That's when Hatter had noticed the older man was no longer in the room, and when Alice's pain began to make sense.

But that did not mean he knew how to fix it.

Think! What had she done to make him better? Distraction – that's right she had distracted him from his pain. But what to distract her with? Hatter looked down at the mass of blond hair on his shoulder, his arms awkwardly wrapped around her. Say anything, he thought, just show her you're here.

"Alice?"

She looked up at him bleary-eyed and a bit flushed from her grief. Come on Tarrant, first thing that comes to mind, just say something.

"I think I'd very much like to kiss you now."

Ok. So maybe not the _first_ thing that came to mind.

"Yes that'd probably be a good idea."

Wait, what?

Alice went on, completely oblivious of Hatter's expression (which was something between deer-in-the-headlights and child-on-Christmas-morning). "I think I know what it is like to see hallucinations. They're there for a moment and your heart sings with joy, in the next they're gone and your heart with them." Her fingers dug into his shoulders, "show me that you will not disappear too."

"Ye canna hold hallucinations love," Hatter's voice gruff but it calmed almost immediately, "your father held you, and so his last wishes of love to you were real, you can hold onto them forever." He lowered his head, so that their foreheads were touching, green eyes peering into blue. "As I hold ye now, and as I plan to forever."

The kiss was light at first, lips barely brushing against lips – hers tear-stained, his a little dry. A soft touch, though, was all that was needed to remind them of what, and of who, they had almost lost. Their mouths met with desperation, seeking reassurance, which was feverishly granted, only to be sought again.

They might have stayed like that for hours, intertwined on the floor in comfort and pain, had not their lungs had this pressing, annoying need for oxygen.

"Are you alright?" Hatter half-whispered after a deep breath.

"No," Alice hadn't pulled away, so their foreheads were still touching, "but I will be."

Phillipe interrupted then, a large gray crane, offering both of them his wing to stand. "I am sorry it had to be this way – Charles was hoping you'd have a day or two before everything occurred, but…perhaps it is best this way." He met Alice's glare calmly, "you had already lost him once, this pain is not new to you. Had you had more time the parting would have only caused you more grief."

"Maybe there would have been a way to –"

The bird shook his head, falcon eyes narrowing, "no, there was none. He was not an Underlander and so once he revealed himself there was nothing to be done."

"There was no way to become an Underlander?" Alice asked.

"There is a way. You were given that choice and accepted. So was he – long ago, and refused. There is nothing more to it than that."

"How?"

"You gave your heart to an Underlander and accepted his in return."

"That's … that's just so…" Alice gestured as she reached for a word, "so cliche."

Hatter grinned, "I rather like it."

"Says the man who laughs at bad puns. You would." There was just enough of the proper Alice in her rebuke that Hatter thought maybe, just maybe, Alice would be alright sooner, rather than later.

"Come, there's a collection of people outside waiting for you. Escorts from the White Castle I believe."

"How did they know where to find us?"

"Absalom," Phillipe stated.

Mallymkun was waiting for them, the Bandersnatch in tow. The little warrior was overjoyed to see Hatter and even managed to admit she was glad Alice was alright. She had a million questions for the both of them, and a hearty scolding for Hatter. Alice was more than happy to let the mouse steal the conversation as silence too easily invited thought.

"Ah, one more thing before you go." Phillipe ruffled his feathers and produced an envelope from beneath them, "Charles wanted me to give this to you. He said it should explain everything and more if you ever feel the need to know."

Alice took the letter eagerly, thumb poised to slit the envelope open before she hesitated then tucked it away in her drawstring pouch. At the owl's questioning look she simply replied, "I don't have the frame of mind to read it properly right now."

They said their goodbyes to Phillipe, who tactfully avoided agreeing to any tea invitation ever, and yet somehow hinted he would not mind having them back while appearing to be more than happy to shoo them away as quickly as possible. Then it was onto the Bandersnatch and back to Marmoreal for some peace (thought certainly not for some quiet) and most definitely for some tea.

"You know," Hatter commented as he helped Alice onto the Bandersnatch, "you've really got quite the dramatic streak about you."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Well coming into Underland and slaying things with swords and all. Very medieval of you."

"How else does one slay something?" Alice asked.

"I slew Time with a song myself. Quite by accident really."

Alice was silent.

Hatter raised an eyebrow, "You don't believe me?"

"No, I'm not surprised in the least," Alice replied, trying hard not to smirk.

It was Hatter who looked incredulous, "you're not?"

"I've heard your signing. "

* * *

**Though he may be awesome at reading poems, I feel like Hatter would have more enthusiasm than skill in his singing. **

**As always thank you**, **thank you, thank you! to you amazing readers! Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter, it's really helpful to know if something reads well or just reads confusing.  
**

**Cheers,**

- **Savi **


	13. Letters from A to Z

There had been parties and teas and knowing smiles, but finally Alice found the time to sit and read her father's letter:

_Where to begin?_

_I guess the beginning is as good a place as any. _

_I have never told you much about your grandparents. That is because your grandfather was not a good man, not to his wife nor to his two sons. As the younger of the two I was spared some of his ire – if just for the fact I would not inherent so I was essentially unimportant. This, of course, did not endear me to him when he did remember I existed. My childhood circumstances, pitiable though they might be, did lead to one good thing: the discovery of Underland. _

_I discovered it one day quite by accident. I was very prone to day-dreaming (a quirk I never really lost and subsequently passed onto you, much to my delight) and could often wander for hours lost in thought. On this occasion I just happened to get a little more lost than usual and wandered right through Phillipe's door. _

Alice looked up from reading, "isn't that how I found it?"

"Nope," Hatter replied from the corner where he was lazily polishing a tea pot.

"But I was day-dreaming."

"Ah you were day-dreaming and fell down a quite literal hole." Hatter continued over Alice's sheepish look, "your father slipped in through his dreams, as Phillipe guards the door of dreamers. Sometimes something real finds its way through, like your father."

"Who guards the rabbit hole then? McTwisp?"

Hatter made a face and Alice thought of falling pianos and flying dressers.

"Thackery?"

"Thackery."

That, Alice mused, explained a lot. With one last chuckle she returned to reading the letter:

_The first time I stayed but a few minutes, but I came back many more times. At first I just followed Phillipe around but later I met others. Two in particular, you would know them, but not as they were then, not as they were when I knew them. My childhood companions were Iracebeth and Stayne. _

_I'm sure you find this hard to believe, but please understand there was once a time when the Red Queen's head was not quite so large, a time when Stayne had both eyes, and a time when they cared more for adventure than they did for beheading. _

_I will not describe all our adventures – ask Phillipe someday if you're truly interested – for now it is enough to say the three of us were inseparable. Underland offered me an escape from home, and by my teenage years I was there more than I was not. _

_But then my father died, and I did not have quite so much time for day-dreaming. I did not visit so much in my late adolescence as I stayed in Upperland to care for my mother and help my older brother run the business. My brother had not the talent for a trade business, but Lord knows he tried. I always had to run accounts for him so I was often at the bank. That's where I met your mother, of course, you know this part of the story. _

_Your mother is why I did not stay in Underland and why I could not run from Time. I say this with happiness, for never have I made a better choice than to marry your mother and to father two of the most wonderful daughters. Never for a moment think that I have regretted that. _

_I'm sure by now you've had this explained to you. All who live in Underland severe their ties with Time. It's not usually a hard or painful process – only with Death follows so close behind him are there complications._

_You and I, of course, are complicated people aren't we?_

_In my twenty-first year I made my last trip to Underland (this most recent one excepted). It was not my intention that it would be my last trip, but that is how it turned out. This next bit is embarrassing to even write out, so forgive me if I skimp on the details. Iracebeth asked me to stay – forever. She offered me a crown as well. I, in my youth, had not realized her attachment to me, so preoccupied was I with my attachment to your mother. I tried to politely refuse, but …well. We did not part on amicable terms. _

_I do not think my rejection was the sole reason for Iracebeth's descent into madness, but perhaps it was the starting point. I am more sorry than you will ever know that you had to suffer the consequences upon your return to Underland. _

_As for my most recent return, it was done out of desperation. You most likely already know the basic facts of my 'death' above – lost at Sea after the trade ship I was on was caught in a storm. This is true. The only added particular is that , as I was drowning, I once again opened a door to Underland. I escaped there, but I did not escape Death. My lungs were too far damaged to return. Had I stepped Above I would have died instantly. In Underland I could not move from Phillipe's domain, but I could watch my family from afar. Please believe me I exhausted every resource in my attempts to return to you; but, as I had given my heart to your Mother long ago, there was no way for me to hide from Time and Death forever. _

_I suppose I could have stayed forever hidden at Phillipe's, but it was not meant to be. A mutual friend, a blue creature that shall remain nameless, warned me of your cruel fate Above. My part in that sordid affair was a bargain – I would willingly return with Death if he would spare you long enough for you to have the chance to find your way to Underland. He would not promise certainty, but you were always a fighter. Please do not blame yourself for my choice. It was willingly made and indeed I was glad to do make it. I am your father and you my daughter, there was nothing else to be done. _

_This letter rambles on and Phillipe reminds me I should finish up as you will be here soon. I am glad I will get to see you one last time, however short that meeting may be. _

_With love always,_

_Your father, Charles Kingsley_

That was it. Alice put the letter between the folds of a book, set it on the shelf and promised herself she would not read it again. There would be no looking back, only forward.

And forward she went; onto Bandersnatch rides, adventures with Mally, tea with Thackery, and nights with Hatter.

What she never knew was that Hatter had added something to the book that held her father's letter. A single slip of paper that read:

_Tarrant Hightopp,_

_If you manage to prove yourself worthy enough to attempt to court my daughter's hand, know that you do so at my blessing. I only ask you love her more than I did. That may be an impossibility but I believe you're just mad enough for the task. Best of luck._

_Charles Kingsley _

Hatter intended to do just that.

* * *

**A few months between chapter 12 and this end chapter. Sorry to those of you still waiting, life got in the way, as it often does. **

**To new readers and old ones alike I want to say thank you for taking the time to read my little take on the fun that is Alice, Hatter, and all of Underland. I hope you enjoyed it/continue to enjoy it. Knowing so many of you read or reviewed my writing made this experimental return to fanfiction a wonderful experience. **

**Take care, don't forget to drink your tea**

**-Savi  
**


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